System and method for approximating characteristics of households for targeted advertisement

ABSTRACT

According to one embodiment of the invention, a method of operation involves two operations. The first operation involves receiving feedback information from a viewing audience concerning a displayed video content. After receipt of the feedback, substituting portions of a downloaded data stream with video content selected based on the feedback information.

This application claims the benefit of priority on ProvisionalApplication No. 60/981,427 filed Oct. 19, 2007.

FIELD

Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to the field ofentertainment, and more particularly to a system and method forreplacing advertisements in a broadcast video signal withaudience-specific advertisements.

GENERAL BACKGROUND

Currently, there exist closed loop addressable advertising (CLAA)systems, namely systems designed to replace an original televisedcommercial in a broadcast television signal with a substitute televisedcommercial. The substitute televised commercial targets a particulardemographic who will find that commercial more interesting andinformative than the original televised commercial.

While a targeted televised commercial most likely offers an increasedrate of return and improves the overall viewing experience, obtainingpersonal preferences for viewers has become increasingly more difficult.One reason for this difficulty is due, in part, to the desire by viewersin avoiding the receipt of mass mailing (electronic and regular mail)and other intrusive advertisements initiated by companies that may haveobtained contact information for these individuals from surveys.Furthermore, the fear of identity theft may cause viewers to providefalse or inaccurate information during a registration process.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention may best be understood by referring to the followingdescription and accompanying drawings that are used to illustrateembodiments of the invention.

FIGS. 1A-1D are illustrative embodiments of a communication system.

FIG. 2 is an illustrative embodiment of a flowchart outlining operationsconducted by elements of the communication system in order to providefeedback concerning programming and/or advertisements.

FIG. 3A is an illustrative embodiment of auto-feedback process foradvertisement.

FIG. 3B is an illustrative embodiment of a feedback image displayed on adisplay device of the communication system of FIG. 1 to denote a generalrating of the advertisement and/or program.

FIG. 3C is an illustrative embodiment of auto-feedback process forprogram.

FIG. 4 is an illustrative embodiment of a manual feedback process inorder to upload feedback information to an advertisement server of FIG.1.

FIG. 5A is an illustrative embodiment of operations conducted by theadvertisement server (or content/ad server) to create a feedback codefor an advertisement.

FIG. 5B is an illustrative embodiment of the processing conducted by theadvertisement server to determine a feedback code for programming.

FIG. 6 is an illustrative embodiment for computing a rating value to bestorage into the database.

FIG. 7 is an illustrative flowchart for calculation of a new ratingvalue using the feedback code.

FIG. 8 is an illustrative embodiment of the categories used to identifythe content of an advertisement.

FIG. 9 is a specific example of the categories selected to identify aluxury car advertisement.

FIG. 10 is an illustrative embodiment of a household profile.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In general, one embodiment of the invention relates to a system andmethod for gathering feedback information directed to advertisementsand/or programming currently being watched or has been watched recently.The amount feedback information may be more readily available for thosesituations where viewer cannot avoid viewing advertisements, suchterrestrial TV broadcast and Internet TV where personal video recorders(PVRs) are not available.

By collecting feedback information over a prolonged period of time andin a non-intrusive way, after analysis, characteristics of a viewer'shousehold (hereinafter referred to as the “household profile”) can beapproximated for the purpose of providing advertisements that are moreentertaining and relevant to each viewer. The “household profile” mayinclude the estimated number of members of the household and thedemographics for that household (e.g., genre, general age groups, etc.)

The household profile is formulated using collected feedbackinformation, where both similarities and differences in feedbackconcerning programming and/or advertisements are useful in determiningthe household profile. For instance, feedback that indicates asubstantial reversal of a particular interest is of value because itidentifies a likely situation that multiple residents occupy thishousehold. As an example, a television program may provide a first orderof approximation of the household profile while ads within thetelevision program provides more granularity, and in profile.

An advertisement server uses the household profile to make an initialselection as to which advertisements are best suited for that householdand refines its selection concerning subsequently downloadedadvertisements based on feedback. For instance, upon reviewing anegative feedback concerning a televised (IPTV) cosmetic commercialduring a current viewing session, it is likely that the viewing audienceis a person who does not wear cosmetics (e.g., male). Moreover, suchfeedback may further indicate that there are potentially multipleresidents (e.g., also a female) if positive feedback for cosmeticcommercials has been received in the past.

In addition, combined with other contemporaneous feedback, thisinformation may be used to better estimate the viewing audience. Forinstance, negative feedback for cosmetic commercial during a sitcomprogram may indicate a male audience. With additional of positivefeedback for preteen video game commercial during the same program mayfurther narrow this male audience to a male teenager.

In the following description, certain terminology is used to describevarious features of one or more embodiments of the invention. Forinstance, the term “display device” is generally considered anyelectronic device that is capable of receiving, processing and/ordisplaying audio/video (AV) content, such as video and/or audio streamsfor example. Examples of a “display device” include, but are not limitedor restricted to a computer (e.g., laptop, tablet, handheld, desktop,server or maintain with terminal, etc.), a cellular telephone, atelevision, a video game player, and the like.

“Software” is generally defined as one or more instructions that, whenexecuted, cause the node to perform a particular function or functions.These instructions may be stored within machine-readable medium such asfirmware or software. “Machine-readable medium” is any medium that canat least temporarily store information including, but not limited orrestricted to the following: an electronic circuit, a semiconductormemory device (non-volatile or volatile), a hard disk drive, and varioustypes of portable storage devices (e.g., flash drive, compact disc “CD”,digital versatile disk “DVD”, etc.).

“Substitute Advertisements” are generally defined as one or morereplacement advertisements whose combined length of time are greaterthan zero seconds but may be shorter, longer or the same length of timeas the original advertisement. In the case where the length of time oforiginal advertisement is zero seconds, the substitute advertisement canalso be referred to as “Inserted Advertisements”.

“Program Category” is defined as a class of programs with common orsimilar genres. For instance, Program Categories can be childrencartoon, preteen cartoon, teen cartoon, preteen girl sitcom, preteen boysitcom, and adult drama.

“Advertisement-Program Category Pair” is defined as a specificadvertisement displayed during a specific program category. Forinstance, fast-food commercial during preteen sitcom program would bedifferent Advertisement-Program Category Pair than the same commercialdisplayed during adult drama program. Advertisement-Program CategoryPair is used to differentiate each members of household. For instance, ahousehold composed of one adult who do not like fast-food, one preteenwho like fast-food and another preteen who do not like fast-food, mayprovide substantial negative feedbacks on fast-food commercial duringadult drama and both substantial positive and negative feedbacks on thesame commercial during various preteen sitcom programs.

“IP Address” is generally defined as either static IP address or dynamicIP address. IP Address cannot always identify unique user (e.g., dynamicIP address is leased to a user for short time period).

“Username” is generally defined as a unique name a user provides duringaccount registration process. Username cannot be used to uniquelyidentify user's location (e.g., user can login at different locationsuch as home or work). Username can be shared among all members of ahousehold. Username cannot be used to identify a specific member ofhousehold.

“Username-IP Address pair” is defined as combination of IP Address andusername. The username-IP address pair can be used to associate aspecific user with a specific location. This information is used inselection of appropriate advertisement for the user. For instance, auser may be at a hotel on a business trip where advertisements of nearbyrestaurants to the hotel may be more applicable than advertisementsconcerning goods or services near one's home.

Referring now to FIG. 1A, a first illustrative embodiment of acommunication system 100 is shown, where system 100 is adapted tosubstitute advertisements before playback in response to feedbackinformation from a viewer. Communication system 100 comprises a contentserver 110 (e.g., a television station, cable head-end system, etc.), adisplay device 120, and an advertisement server 130. Display device 120receives a data stream from server 110 and substitute advertisements (ifany) from server 130.

More specifically, content server 110 is adapted to transmit a datastream to one or more display devices (e.g., display device 120).According to one embodiment of the invention, the data stream includesdigital content such as programming (e.g., television shows, webcasts,podcasts, movies, etc.) interspersed between advertisements. The digitalcontent is routed over a communication link 115 to display device 120.Display device 120 is adapted to communicate with advertisement server130 in order to provide feedback information 150 pertaining toprogramming and/or advertisements seen by the viewer and receivesubstitute advertisements for display as needed.

As an optional feature, display device 120 may be further adapted toprovide information concerning the programming received by displaydevice 120. This information allows the advertisements to be bettertailored to the anticipated viewer. More specifically, display device120 uploads an identifier 140 for the programming currently being viewedto advertisement server 130.

As an optional feature, identifies 140 uploaded to advertisement servercan be used to refine household profile. For instance, positive feedbackfor boy preteen shoes during cartoon programming would indicate a highprobability of a young male audience in the household. Furthermore,later substantial reversal of feedback of the same or similaradvertisement on the same or similar cartoon programming would indicatea probability of either another preteen boy audience with no interest inshoes or a girl audience. Additional feedback would provide betterprediction whether the second child is a boy or a girl audience.

The information about program currently being viewed allows for a betterprediction of household profile. This feature is useful only on adisplay device where software does not operate continuously without anyaudience. Example of such display devices include, but are not limitedor restricted to cable TV set-top boxes or satellite TV set-top boxes.In other display devices such as TV, computer and cell phone, usernormally turns off or terminates the software at the end of the viewing.

The invention can identify different members of the household as long astheir interests can be distinguishable. A TV program is designed to gaina wide range of audiences. On the contrary, a TV advertisement istypically created to attract attention of much smaller groups ofaudiences. Advertisement feedback would narrow down the audience intosmaller group. For instance, as shown in FIG. 1D, positive feedback ofhealth and beauty TV advertisement 191 during preteen childrenprogramming 190 might indicate a preteen girl audience 192. A negativefeedback might indicate a preteen boy audience the estimation.

The principal is based on an assumption that majority of TV programs andTV advertisements does attract their intended audiences. Smaller anomalyor error can be isolated and removed from the samples. Anomaly or errorindicates that TV programming or TV advertisement attract wrongaudiences. This error can be used by appropriate producer to futurerefine or improve the production.

Upon analysis of the household profile formulated based on previousfeedback by persons associated with an IP address reserved for displaydevice 120 (and perhaps based on the particular programming received),advertisement server 130 routes one or more substitute advertisements145 to display device 120. Substitute advertisements 145 may initiallybe a default advertisement based on the geographic location associatedwith the IP address as well as the type of content associated with theprogram being viewed. In the alternative, in response to signaling fromdisplay device 120, substitute advertisements 145 selected in accordancewith the household profile are downloaded into storage memory 125adapted to store advertisements. As a result, advertisements containedin the data stream are substituted as needed for advertisements storedin storage memory 125.

While storage memory 125 provides the ability to store advertisementsfor later and repeated uses, it is contemplated that a real-timeadvertisement substitution system may be implemented through theplacement of pre-markers located in the data stream to identify apredetermined time before the advertisement is displayed. Thepre-markers enable display device 120 to query advertisement server 130or storage memory 125 for substitute advertisements 145. This real-timeadvertisement substitution scheme provides more reliability to ensurethat the advertisements are targeted to the viewing audience.

Referring now to FIG. 13, a second illustrative embodiment of thearchitecture of communication system 100 is shown. In lieu of a separateadvertisement server, a server 160 is provided with the functionality ofboth content server 110 and advertisement server 130 of FIG. 1A(hereinafter “content/ad server” 160).

Similar in operation to FIG. 1A, display device 120 may be adapted toreceive digital content, and thereafter, optionally upload signals toidentify receipt of pre-markers within the data stream. It iscontemplated that content/ad server 160 already knows the particularprogramming downloaded to display device 120. Upon receipt of theuploaded signals, content/ad server 160 may download one or moresubstitute advertisements or inserted advertisements for display in lieuof advertisements currently in the data stream provided with theprogramming.

Herein, a viewer further provides feedback information 150 to content/adserver 160 based on current or previously viewed programming and/oradvertisements. Display device 120 may further re-route advertisement165 to other display devices when display device 120 operates as part ofa serial communication link with other display devices that are adaptedto receive programming and/or advertisements from display device 120.

Referring now to FIG. 1C, a third illustrative embodiment of computercommunication system 100 is shown. Upon receipt of the digital contentover communication link 115, display device 120 transmits a broadcast ormulticast or unicast signal 180 that targets a number of electronicdevices. For instance, signal 180 is a REQUEST message for requesting aparticular advertisement or a particular genre of advertisements.REQUEST signal 180 may be transmitted through a wired medium or over awireless medium. Display device 185 detects REQUEST signal 180 anddetermines whether of its pre-stored advertisements are identical to (orin the same genre of) the advertisement identified in REQUEST signal180. If so, display device 185 transmits the advertisements) to displaydevice 120 for display.

Alternatively, in a system where the characteristics of storage memorywithin display device 120 (e.g., memory size) is known, an ad server cancoordinate the transfer of advertisement from one or more displaydevices to others.

Similarly, display device 120 provides feedback information toadvertisement server 130 that is used to better configure whatadvertisements are to be displayed by display device 120. Similarly,display device 120 provides feedback information to advertisement server130 that is used to better configure the advertisements to be displayedwith the household profile.

Referring now to FIG. 2, an illustrative embodiment of a flow chartoutlining operations conducted in order to provide feedback concerningprogramming and/or advertisements being displayed is shown. Initially,as an optional feature, one or more persons of a household wouldcomplete a registration process (block 200). According to one embodimentof the invention, the registration process is conducted on the displaydevice in order to extract the static or dynamic IP address of thedisplay device upon which content is downloaded. In addition, theregistration process may be able to extract certain demographic (e.g.,number of members of the household, ages, ethnicity, etc.) and viewerpreference information in order to assist in the determination of thetypes of advertisements to be provided. Thereafter, an auto-feedbackprocess is performed to generate displayable images with the content(block 210) as shown in FIG. 3A.

Referring now to FIG. 3A, an illustrative embodiment of auto-feedbackprocess for advertisement is shown. The auto-feedback process isresponsible for determining a suitable feedback image for display withthe programming. According to one embodiment of the invention, afeedback image is substantially smaller than the displayed imagesassociated with the programming or advertisement. For instance, thefeedback image may be superimposed at a particular location proximate toa border of the displayed programming or advertisement images. As anillustrative example, as shown in FIG. 3B, a feedback image 350 may be a“thumbs up” representation to denote that the viewer approves of theadvertisement while a “thumbs down” image to denote a lack of approval.

Initially, a determination is made whether there is any previousfeedback for the particular advertisement stored (block 300). If nofeedback has been previously stored, the auto-feedback processterminates. If feedback does exist, however, a determination is madewhether more than one feedback result has been provided from a viewer ofthe display device (block 310). If so, determination is made whether theprevious feedback for the advertisement closely matches the category ofthe program currently to be displayed (block 320). For instance, thereare previous feedbacks for the advertisement, negative one during adultdrama program and positive one during children educational program. Inaddition, the advertisement is being displayed during preteen cartoonprogram. The auto-feedback process would select positive feedback to bedisplayed because children educational program is closer matched topreteen cartoon program than adult drama program.

Thereafter, a determination is made whether the feedback is positive(block 330). If so, auto-feedback process updates the positive feedbackto generate a positive feedback image such as the “thumbs up” image asdescribed above (block 340). Otherwise, if no positive feedback isprovided, the auto-feedback process involves a negative feedback and anegative feedback image is generated for display (block 345).

Similar to FIG. 3A, FIG. 3C is an illustrative embodiment ofauto-feedback process for a program. The same analysis applies whereprevious feedback is located (block 360) and if there is more than onefeedback (block 370). If so, a determination is made as to whichprevious feedback is to be used (block 380). Thereafter, a determinationis made whether the feedback is positive (block 385). If so,auto-feedback process updates the positive feedback (block 390).Otherwise, the auto-feedback process updates the negative feedback(block 395). The different between auto-feedback processes foradvertisement and for program is the process of locating previousfeedback data to be used 320 and 380. In advertisement process 320,previous feedback of advertisement data is chosen from the closestmatched program category to the current program. In program process 380,previous feedback of program data is chosen from the closest matchedprogram category to the current program.

Referring back to FIG. 2, a selectable feedback image produced by theauto-feedback process is displayed for a predetermined time duringplayback of the digital content (block 220). In the event that thefeedback image is selected by the viewer during a predetermined time(block 230), a determination is made whether a manual feedback processhas been selected (block 240). If not, or if the image is not selectedby the viewer during the predetermined time, the process terminates.However, if the manual process feedback is selected, the manual feedbackprocess undergoes the operations as set forth in FIG. 4 below (block250).

Referring now to FIG. 4, an illustrative embodiment of a manual feedbackprocess in order to upload feedback information to an advertisementserver is shown. Initially, a particular advertisement is selected(block 400). Such selection may be accomplished subsequent to display ofthat advertisement or during the time that the advertisement is beingdisplayed. A determination is made whether previous feedback has beenstored (block 410). If not, a blank feedback form is displayed for theviewer to enter feedback information (block 420). If feedbackinformation has been previously stored, the last entry may be optionallyremoved if the entry is provided through the auto-feedback process(block 430). The reason is that this entry has been automaticallygenerated in lieu of being generated by the viewer. Thereafter, previousfeedback is displayed to allow for changes (block 440).

Next, a determination is made whether to cancel the feedback request(block 450). If so, the process terminates. Otherwise, new feedbackinformation is captured (block 460) as shown in FIGS. 5A-5B.

Referring now to FIG. 5A, an illustrative embodiment of operationsconducted by the display device or advertisement server (or content/adserver) is shown. These operations compute feedback informationconcerning digital content (e.g., advertisement), namely a feedbackcode. The identifier of the programming (PROGRAM_ID) and an identifierof the advertisement (AD_ID) for playback with the programming areprovided to a database for storage with a rating value (described below)that represents the approval or disproval of a portion of the digitalcontent. It is contemplated that both PROGRAM_ID and AD_ID can be usedto separate the feedback for the same advertisement by different membersof the household. For instance, feedback for fast food advertisementduring a preteen comedy program would be kept separately from the sameadvertisement but during adult sitcom program.

In order to compute the feedback code, the overall rating of theadvertisement is determined (block 510). If the advertisement received apositive rating (i.e. the advertisement has been “approved” by theviewing audience), the next determination is whether the content(subject matter) of a television advertisement has been approved (block520). If the content has been approved, a final determination is whetherthe advertisement presentation has been approved (block 530). This“presentation” involves the composition of the aesthetics behind theadvertisement such as acting, setting, dialogue, etc. If so, theapproval rating is assigned a feedback code of “0-1-1” to denote thehighest where both the overall advertisement is approved as well as itscontent and presentation.

In the event that advertisement presentation does not meet the approvalof the viewing audience, a feedback code of “0-1-1” is assigned as therating value. Similarly, in the event that the viewing audience does notapprove of the content of the advertisement but approves of thepresentation of the advertisement, a feedback code of “0-0-1” isassigned as the rating value for the advertisement. This differs from afeedback code of “0-0-0” which represents that both the content andpresentation of the television advertisement have not been approved, butthe overall rating of the television advertisement has been approved.

In the event that the overall rating of the television advertisementdoes not meet the approval of the viewing audience, a determination ismade whether the content of the television advertisement has beenapproved (block 525). If the content of the advertisement has beenapproved and the presentation of the advertisement has been approved, afeedback code of “1-1-1” is assigned the advertisement (block 534). Inthe event that the overall rating has not been approved, theadvertisement has been approved and the presentation has not beenapproved, the feedback code of “1-1-0” is assigned as the overall ratingfor the advertisement.

In the event that the content of the advertisement has not beenapproved, but the presentation has been approved of the viewer, afeedback code of “1-0-1” is assigned as the rating for the televisionadvertisement (block 536). In the event that the overall rating, thecontent and the television advertisement presentation have not beenapproved, the rating would be assigned a feedback code of “1-0-0.”

Referring now to FIG. 5B, an illustrative embodiment of the processingconducted by the display device or advertisement server (or content/adserver) to determine the feedback code for some programming is shown.Herein, the programming identifier (PROGRAM_ID) is provided to thedatabase in a manner similar to what was found for computing the overallrating for the advertisement. The same analysis applies where thefeedback code of the programming is first determined (block 550), andfrom that, more granularity is conducted as to whether the content(blocks 560 and 565) and the presentation for the programming (blocks570, 572, 574, 576) have been approved in a manner described above.

Referring now to FIG. 6, an illustrative embodiment of the computationof the rating value and storage into the database is shown. Initially,as shown in blocks 600 and 610, the AD_ID is used to determine whetherthere is any previous feedback data entry for the AD_ID. If there are noprevious entries for AD_ID, a new entry is created for the advertisement(or program) with an initial rating value provided with the PROGRAM_IDand/or AD_ID and feedback code (see block 650).

If there is any previous entry for AD_ID, feedback data directed to thesame advertisement category pair (e.g., shoe advertisement duringchildren program) as the advertisement is recovered (block 620). The newfeedback is compared with previous feedback of the same category createdwith an initial rating value provided with the AD_ID and/or PROGRAM_IDand feedback code (block 640).

In the event that the feedback is directed to a program, the feedbackcode, PROGRAM_ID and initial rating value are provided to recalculatethe new rating value for the program (block 650). Otherwise, thefeedback code, AD_ID, PROGRAM_ID and initial rating value are provided(block 660).

In the event that the feedback data is directed to the sameadvertisement and program category pair and the feedback does notdiffer, a previous rating value is provided for recalculation. In otherwords, the feedback code, PROGRAM_ID, AD_ID and the previous ratingvalue are provided to software loaded in the advertisement server (ordisplay device) to compute the new rating value as shown as input “B” inblock 670.

Referring now to FIG. 7, an illustrative flowchart for calculation of anew rating value using the feedback code is shown. Herein, if thedigital content involves programming (PROGRAM_ID) as represented byinput “A”, the PROGRAM_ID is separated from input also including thefeedback code and a prior (or initial) rating value (blocks 700 and710). If the feedback code is greater than zero (thumbs-up), it isincremented by one (block 780). Thereafter, the new rating value iscomputed using the prior (or initial) rating value and the feedback code(block 720). Thereafter, the new rating value is concatenated with thePROGRAM_ID for storage within a database entry assigned to theparticular programming (block 730).

Referring still to FIG. 7, if the feedback code of block 600 is directedadvertisement (AD_ID), both the PROGRAM_ID and AD_ID are separated frominput signals also including the feedback code and the current ratingvalue (blocks 740 and 750). If the feedback code is greater than zero(thumbs-up), it is incremented by one (block 790). Thereafter, a newrating value is computed using the prior (or initial) rating value andthe feedback code (block 760). Thereafter, the new rating value isconcatenated with the PROGRAM_ID and AD_ID for storage within a databaseentry assigned to the particular advertisement (block 770).

For example, a thumbs-up representation is assigned a feedback codebetween +3 to 0 while a “thumbs-down” representation is assigned afeedback code ranging from −4 to −1. The “thumbs-up” coding is adjustedby adding +1 to increase its range to +4 to +1. The rating value is asummation of the number of feedback responses, directly or indirectly,of a particular advertisement. Indirect responses occur when the viewerprovides no new feedback for an advertisement with previous feedback.The inaction on the viewer's side means that the last feedback isacceptable. A “flip-flop” feedback is detected when the advertisementscontent relevancy (second bit) is changed.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show different fields used to categorize an advertisement.As shown in FIG. 8, these advertising categories are configured toidentify the viewing audience 800 and the good and/or services 810 towhich the advertisement is directed. Hence, when a particular type ofadvertisement is to be downloaded to the display device, theadvertisement server can ascertain and download targeted advertisements.For instance, as shown in FIG. 9, a luxury car commercial is identified“Automobile Products and Services” category 900 and is to be directed toa viewing audience with driving privileges (e.g., senior, adult, teen)of any gender as shown in categories 910 and 920.

Referring now to FIG. 10, an illustrative embodiment of an example of ahousehold profile 1000 is shown, where household profile 1000 isformulated from a collection of feedback data Household profile 1000approximates that this household does not have an infant, toddlers or apet. It has at least one teenager and one adult.

Although embodiments of the invention have been described with respectto specific examples, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill inthe art that the invention is not limited to these specific examples orsubsystems but extends to other embodiments as well. For instance,advertisement substitution may be applicable to downloaded audioadvertisement with listener feedback in a similar manner.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: determining a viewercategory of an advertisement; determining a viewer category of a currentprogram; identifying a plurality of feedback responses received from aviewing audience during previous presentations of the advertisement;identifying at least one feedback response from the plurality offeedback responses received during a program having the same viewercategory as the viewer category of the current program; determining arating of the at least one feedback response; generating a selectablefeedback image based at least on the rating of the at least one feedbackresponse; causing a first display device to display the selectablefeedback image during presentation of the advertisement on the firstdisplay device; in response to the display of the selectable feedbackimage, receiving feedback information from a viewing audience concerningthe advertisement displayed on the first display device, wherein thefeedback information corresponds to a selection of the selectablefeedback image; altering subsequent advertisements to be displayed onthe first display device based on the feedback information; associatingan online access IP address with an identity and physical location of auser; comparing the feedback information with historical feedback datato determine whether the feedback information is an anomaly; determiningan estimated household profile to which the user is a member based onthe display of the selectable feedback image and the selection of theselectable feedback image, the historical feedback data, thedetermination of whether the feedback information is an anomaly, and theidentity and the physical location of the user; selecting futureadvertisements based on the household profile; storing the futureadvertisements for future uses; and retrieving the future advertisementsfor future uses.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the feedbackinformation includes a value that represents a rating of a content ofthe advertisement.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the feedbackinformation includes an overall rating of the advertisement, a rating ofa content of the advertisement, and a rating of a presentation level ofthe advertisement.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the altering of thesubsequent advertisements includes substituting the subsequentadvertisements for display with an advertisement selected based on thefeedback information.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the altering ofthe subsequent advertisements further includes displaying theadvertisement selected based on the feedback information.
 6. The methodof claim 4, wherein the altering of the subsequent advertisementsfurther includes (i) displaying the advertisement selected based on thefeedback information at the first display device, and (ii) routing theadvertisement to a remotely located second display device for display.7. A system comprising: a display device configured to display aselectable feedback image during presentation of streaming data; and aserver in communication with the display device, wherein the serverincludes: a first module to: determine a viewer category of anadvertisement, determine a viewer category of a current program,identify a plurality of feedback responses received from a viewingaudience during previous presentations of the advertisement, identify atleast one feedback response from the plurality of feedback responsesreceived during a program having the same viewer category as the viewercategory of the current program, determine a rating of the at least onefeedback response, generate the selectable feedback image based at leaston the rating of the at least one feedback response, receive feedbackinformation from the display device based on a selection of theselectable feedback image, and based on the feedback information,download video content to be substituted for a portion of video contentwithin the streaming data; a second module to associate an online accessIP address with an identity and physical location of viewers; a thirdmodule to compare the feedback information with historical feedback datato determine whether the feedback information is an anomaly; a fourthmodule to determine an estimated household profile to which the user isa member based on the display of the selectable feedback image and theselection of the selectable feedback image, the historical feedbackdata, the determination of whether the feedback information is ananomaly, and the identity and the physical location of the user; a fifthmodule to select future advertisements based on the household profile; asixth module to store the future advertisements for future uses; and aseventh module to retrieve the future advertisements for future uses. 8.The system of claim 7, wherein the feedback information includes a valuerepresenting an overall impression of the portion of video content by aviewer, a value representing an impression by the viewer of a subjectmatter of the portion of video content, and a value representing animpression by the viewer of a presentation level conducted duringexecution of the portion of the video content.
 9. The system of claim 7,wherein the portion of the video content is an advertisement.
 10. Thesystem of claim 9, wherein the advertisement is a televised commercial.11. The system of claim 9, wherein the display device displays theadvertisement selected based on the feedback information to besubstituted for the portion of video content being a prior advertisementwithin the streaming data.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein thedisplay device is further configured to further route the advertisementto a remotely located second display device for display.
 13. A methodcomprising: determining a viewer category of an advertisement;determining a viewer category of a current program; identifying aplurality of feedback responses received from a viewing audience duringprevious presentations of the advertisement; identifying at least onefeedback response from the plurality of feedback responses receivedduring a program having the same viewer category as the viewer categoryof the current program; determining a rating of the at least onefeedback response; generating a selectable feedback image based at leaston the rating of the at least one feedback response; causing a displaydevice to display the selectable feedback image during presentation ofthe advertisement on the first display device; receiving electronicfeedback information at a server, the feedback information being basedon a selection of the selectable feedback image and being directed to arating value for the advertisement as perceived by a user; associatingan online access IP address with an identity and physical location of auser; comparing the feedback information with historical feedback datato determine whether the feedback information is an anomaly; determiningan estimated household profile to which the user is a member based onthe display of the selectable feedback image and the selection of theselectable feedback image, the historical feedback data, thedetermination of whether the feedback information is an anomaly, and theidentity and the physical location of the user; selecting futureadvertisements based on the household profile; storing the futureadvertisements for future uses; and retrieving the future advertisementsfor future uses.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the receiving ofelectronic feedback comprises receiving electronic feedback informationdirected to the rating for the programming in order to make an initialapproximation of a number of members of a household associated with thehousehold profile.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the receiving ofelectronic feedback further comprises receiving feedback informationdirected to the rating for the advertisement in order to make a moreaccurate approximation of the number of members of the household. 16.The method of claim 14, wherein the receiving of electronic feedbackcomprises receiving feedback information directed to the rating for theprogramming in the advertisement in order to determine which member of ahousehold associated with the household profile is viewing theprogramming.
 17. The method of claim 14, wherein the receiving ofelectronic feedback comprises receiving feedback information directed tothe ratings for the programming and the advertisement in order to selectthe future advertisements.
 18. The method of claim 1, wherein the ratingof the at least one feedback response is a positive rating or a negativerating, wherein the selectable feedback image is a positive selectablefeedback image if the rating of the at least one feedback response is apositive rating and the selectable feedback image is a negativeselectable feedback image if the rating of the at least one feedbackresponse is a negative rating.
 19. The method of claim 1, wherein theadvertisement is presented during a block of time associated with thecurrent program.